The Best Day
Today was why I came to The Gambia and why I so passionately strive to travel.
Every Saturday we do something different. This time we split into groups of three and visited the homes of girls who have not been showing up to the summer session. The purpose was not only to remind the girls that consistent attendance is a requirement to retain their enrollment in Starfish, but also to show their parents that their children have a large support network outside of the home that cares about their education. Americans travel all the way here to offer whatever resources and knowledge that they can.
I was paired with Haddy Gaye and my mentor (and bff) Awa. We had eleven students on our list and three and a half hours to stop by each house.
People in Lamin don’t necessarily have addresses the way we do. The streets are dirt paths; some of them have numbers but most don’t. People just know their own neighborhood so you ask for directions to specific houses from people on the streets. Anyways, we headed out to the girl who we assumed lived the farthest away and spent TWO HOURS aimlessly wandering around the village and could not find a single girl’s house. I only had a half of a bottle of water on me which we got through in about 20 minutes. Awa of course started vlogging on my phone, which was funny.
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Even though I was exhausted, dehydrated, and dripping sweat I wasn’t disheartened. Haddy Gaye and Awa are incredibly fun to be around and I liked that it was just us. We kept taking breaks and seeking refuge in shady spots around the village. Awa went through every picture on my camera roll, meaning that now she basically understands my entire life. After three hours of complete confusion we only actually made it to four houses and racked up probably about 20 minutes of conversation with the families. When we got back to Starfish every group had their own stories of getting lost or weird interactions with families. Sam and Jamil’s group was gifted a chicken which they carried around for over an hour. It really was an adventure.
After lunch we had a “talk show” where Kiran and I were interviewed in front of all the students and mentors and were asked to tell our life stories. At Starfish no one has secret struggles or drama that remains behind closed doors. They want to volunteers to explain the hardship in their own lives and how they overcame it. Question topics range from family and romantic relationships to self esteem and personal insecurities. It’s hard to be vulnerable in front of that many people, but that’s why we’re here. We need to show the girls that even though we come from a place of wealth and privilege our lives are not perfect. I tried to tell the girls how I find comfort in being my unapologetic self and how important it is to realize that self worth does not require validation from other people.
Next we were herded out of the hall and into a van where Neima was waiting for us. Tonight we would be attending a Baha’i fireside discussion. This is the religion that Yassin and David practice. The home we visited was a mansion and it had air conditioning. They explained the premise and practices of the faith and we were encouraged to ask any question. In keeping with my personal disposition, I asked about the ethical issues facing the religion and how Baha’i has contributed to the marginalization or oppression of some peoples (as every religion does). No one really answered my question. It was an incredible discussion though and I wish I remembered everything that was said.
Yassin and David are the most interesting people that I have ever met. I have never encountered anyone else who has such a broad and nuanced understanding of culture, religion, human relationships, education, and any seemingly any other topic known to humankind. They have both lived incredibly unique and rich lives to the point where they are too complicated for me to understand. Somehow though, every bit of wisdom they pass onto us relates to my own life in the most significant way.
I think I just described what I did this Saturday; I don’t think this piece of writing at all articulates how significant to my life this day was. It makes sense of course. Experiences that truly challenge my perception of the world can’t be easily put into words.
